1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to devices that attach to a person's dominant hand in order to cause that person to favor their non-dominant hand when performing a specific task. More particularly, the present invention is related to devices that attach to a person's dominant hand that reduce a person's control of that hand when playing the game of basketball.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By natural design, most people have a dominant hand, that is, they are either right handed or left handed. When performing most tasks, a person favors his/her dominant hand. As a result, the dominant hand and arm are used more often than are the opposite hand and arm. The dominant hand and arm, therefore, tend to be stronger than the non-dominant hand and arm. Furthermore, a person's hand-to-eye coordination tends to be greater with the dominant hand and arm, than with their non-dominant hand and arm.
There are many sports that require a person to use both of their hands at different times. In such sports, a person who is ambidextrous has a distinct advantage over his/her competitors. For example, in the game of basketball, a person who can dribble, shoot and pass with either hand has an advantage over a competitor who can only dribble, shoot and pass with their dominant hand.
One of the most effective ways to promote ambidexterity is to impede the performance of a person's dominant hand. In this manner, a person has no option but to use their non-dominant hand. Trainers for many different sports often cause athletes to train with their dominant hand restrained. This causes the athlete to use only their non-dominant hands. The continued use of the non-dominant hand increases the strength of the non-dominant hand and increases an athlete's hand-to-eye coordination with that hand. With repeated training, the performance of an athlete's non-dominant hand and arm can be brought into par with that of the athlete's dominant hand and arm.
A problem associated with the training technique of restraining the dominant hand is that technique can only be used in non-competitive situations. Obviously, a basketball player cannot play effectively against an opponent with one arm restrained. As a result, the restraining of the dominant hand is only an option during practice. However, many sports, such as basketball, are team sports where the players interact with one another during practice. In such team sports, it would be both dangerous to the player and counter productive to the team for one player to restrain one of his/her arms during practice.
A need therefore exists for a device and method that causes a person to favor their non-dominant hand when playing a sport without restraining the dominant hand or arm. This need is met by the present invention as is described and claimed below.
The present invention is a glove that fits onto the dominant hand and lowers the dexterity of that hand to a level below that of the non-dominant hand.
In the prior art record, there are many different types of devices that attach to a person's hand for the general purpose of sports training. However, these prior art devices are typically designed to improve a person's hand-to-eye coordination, or otherwise train the hand to maintain some theoretically correct position. Such prior art devices are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,447 to Brown, entitled, Basketball Player's Training Glove; U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,730 to Slider, entitled, Basketball Practice Glove; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,312 to Nickels, entitled Basketball Training Glove. The Applicant is unaware of any prior art glove that is designed to intentionally decrease a person's hand-to-eye coordination by preventing a hand from conforming to certain configurations. Accordingly, the present invention is believed to be useful, novel and an advancement in the art.